The impact of job demands and behavioral control on experienced job stress

The present study examines the impact of behavioral control on the experience of work strain under conditions of work overload. Extending experimental laboratory findings that suggest that control can lessen the impact of aversive stimuli on psychological and physiological strain responses, we hypothesized an interaction between control and workload such that the effects of high demands on strain would be less if the worker had behavioral control over the task. This hypothesis is also consistent with Karasek's job demands-job decision latitude model of work strain and health. The hypothesis was tested in a laboratory experiment in which 125 subjects worked on a mail sorting task with either a high or moderate level of workload and either a high or low level of behavioral control. Strain responses were assessed with measures of job satisfaction, anxiety, and physiological arousal. The hypothesis was only partially supported in that high control lessened the impact that work overload had on anxiety. While not fully supportive of the model, the results are seen as conservative given the constraints on the manipulation of work overload inherent in the laboratory environment.     

Occupational stress in (inter)action: the interplay between job demands and job resources

The present study addresses theoretical issues involving different interaction effects between job demands and job resources, accompanied by a thorough empirical test of interaction terms in the demand–control (DC) model and the effort–reward imbalance (ERI) model in relation to employee health and well‐being (i.e., exhaustion, psychosomatic health complaints, company‐registered sickness absence). Neither the DC model nor the ERI model gives a clear theoretical rationale or preference for a particular interaction term. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted among 405 nursing home employees and cross‐validated in a comparable sample (N = 471). Results including cross‐validation showed that only a multiplicative interaction term yielded consistent results for both the DC model and the ERI model. Theoretical as well as empirical results argue for a multiplicative interaction term to test the DC model and the ERI model. Future job stress research may benefit from the idea that there should be a theoretical preference for any interaction form, either in the DC model or in the ERI model. However, more research on interactions is needed to address this topic adequately. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social support and managerial affective responses to job stress

This research examines the moderating or buffering effects of two social support variables—support from the work group and from the supervisor—on the relationships of role conflict and ambiguity to intrinsic job satisfaction, job involvement and job anxiety. Data were collected from a sample of 89 middle-lower managerial personnel in a large, heavy equipment manufacturing firm in the Midwest. The moderated regression technique was used in data analysis. Significant interactions were obtained between the role variables and both social support variables. The results were in the predicted direction for positive work outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and involvement) and contrary to prediction for negative work outcome (i.e. job anxiety). Implications of the findings for future research, the management of stress and leadership behaviour are discussed.     

Personality and job performance: the importance of narrow traits

In a recent discussion of the bandwidth–fidelity dilemma in personality measurement for personnel selection, Ones and Viswesvaran (1996) concluded that ‘broader and richer personality traits will have higher predictive validity than narrower traits’. In this paper, the arguments made by Ones and Viswesvaran in favor of the exclusive use of broad personality dimensions are discussed. New data are presented that contradict Ones and Viswesvaran's claim of the existence of a general, integrity-related personality factor, and that show two narrow measures—the Responsibility and Risk Taking scales of the Jackson Personality Inventory—to have higher validities than the Big Five dimensions with respect to job performance criteria based on self-reported workplace delinquency in a sample of 127 entry-level employees. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of job demands and control on employee attendance and satisfaction

We examined the impact of stressful job demands on employee attitudes and attendance. Using Karasek's (1979) theory of job decision latitude as the conceptual foundation, we hypothesized that mental and physical work demands would interact with employee beliefs of personal control. Survey data from 90 male manufacturing employees regarding their control beliefs were combined with objective job analysis data concerning mental and physical demands and one year's worth of archival data regarding unexcused absences, sick days, and days tardy. There were significant interactions between control and objective psychological demands that indicated that these demands were associated with higher levels of tardiness and sick days only under conditions of low perceived control. In contrast, subjective workload ratings showed no relationship with tardiness and sick days, but, in interaction with control, predicted work satisfaction and voluntary absence. We discussed these results in terms of a stress process that affects health-related attendance independent of employee attitudes.     

Generalizing the importance of occupational and career views to job satisfaction attitudes

There is a preponderance of theory postulating that the level of job satisfaction is a direct function of the perceived discrepancy between what the employee desires from a job and what the employee actually receives from it. To date, the only job satisfaction research program that has systematically examined the relationship between job satisfaction and the degree to which perceptions of job rewards match the expressed desires of the individual is that conducted by the Minnesota Work Adjustment Project (MWAP). Although the MWAP has had success in predicting job satisfaction some of the time, it also encounters many unpredictable cases. Based on research with industrial R&D personnel, Scarpello and Campbell (1983a) suggested that one reason for the unpredictable cases is that people's views of their occupations and careers help explain their reactions to current job situations. This paper discusses the limitations of the MWAP for job satisfaction research and reports the results of a study with 806 manufacturing plant employees, that assessed the external validity and thus, generalizability of Scarpello and Campbell's (1983a) findings. Results supported the external validity and generalizability of the previous findings. Implications for future job satisfaction research are discussed.     

The (affective) dispositional approach to job satisfaction: sorting out the policy implications

The dispositional approach to job attitudes has played an important role in refocusing attention in organizational behavior on person factors, in addition to situational factors, as determinants of job attitudes and behaviors. I focus on what have been suggested as policy implications of research on dispositions, in particular, research on affective dispositions. My reading of the evidence suggests that affective dispositional factors may be useful in employee selection, and I identify questions that need to be resolved for this case to be stronger. On the other hand, I find little in the way of logic or evidence to support the claim that dispositions constrain the success of situational interventions designed to improve employee attitudes (or behaviors). Consistent with recent developments in the personality literature and with arguments made by Gerhart and Davis‐Blake and Pfeffer in the organizational behavior literature, I show that within‐person consistency in attitudes and behaviors can coexist with mean level changes in attitudes and behaviors induced by situational changes in the workplace. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of facet importance as a moderator in job satisfaction processes

Two studies were designed to test hypotheses derived from Locke's (1969, 1976, 1984) model of job satisfaction. Consistent with the model, both studies found that perceived have-want discrepancy scores were powerful predictors of facet job satisfaction. In addition, facet importance tended to moderate this relationship in the manner predicted by Locke. Workers who viewed a job facet as having high importance were more satisfied with a small perceived have-want discrepancy and more dissatisfied with a large discrepancy than workers who viewed the facet as having low importance. Finally, as expected, facet importance failed to moderate the relationship between facet satisfaction and overall job satisfaction. This finding supports Locke's proposition that facet satisfaction scores are ‘implicitly weighted’ by facet importance. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Psychosocial safety climate: Conceptual distinctiveness and effect on job demands and worker psychological health

Psychosocial safety climate is an emerging construct that refers to shared perceptions regarding policies, practices, and procedures for the protection of worker psychological health and safety. The purpose of the research was to: (1) demonstrate that psychosocial safety climate is a construct distinct from related climate measures (i.e., physical safety climate, team psychological safety, and perceived organizational support); and (2) test the proposition that organizational psychosocial safety climate determines work conditions (i.e., job demands) and subsequently worker psychological health. We used samples from two different cultures; an Australian sample (N = 126 workers in 16 teams within a primary health care organization) and a Malaysian sample (N = 180 workers in 31 teams from different organizations and diverse industries). In both samples confirmatory factor analysis verified that psychosocial safety climate is a construct distinct from related climate measures. Using hierarchical linear modeling, psychosocial safety climate was superior to other team level climate measures in its negative relationship to both job demands and psychological health problems. Results supported a mediation process, psychosocial safety climate → job demands → psychological health problems, corroborating psychosocial safety climate as a preeminent stress risk factor, and an efficient target for intervention. We found both physical and psychosocial safety climates were stronger in the Australian, compared with the Malaysian work context. Levels of psychosocial safety climate were significantly lower than those of physical safety climate in both countries indicating a ‘universal’ lack of attention to workplace psychological health.     

How changes in job demands and resources predict burnout,work engagement,and sickness absenteeism

The present longitudinal survey among 201 telecom managers supports the Job Demands‐Resources (JD‐R) model that postulates a health impairment process and a motivational process. As hypothesized, results of structural equation modeling analyses revealed that: (1) increases in job demands (i.e., overload, emotional demands, and work‐home interference) and decreases in job resources (i.e., social support, autonomy, opportunities to learn, and feedback) predict burnout, (2) increases in job resources predict work engagement, and (3) burnout (positively) and engagement (negatively) predict registered sickness duration (“involuntary” absence) and frequency (“involuntary” absence), respectively. Finally, consistent with predictions results suggest a positive gain spiral: initial work engagement predicts an increase in job resources, which, in its turn, further increases work engagement. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived safety climate, job demands, and coworker support among union and nonunion injured construction workers

PROBLEM: This study evaluated injured construction workers' perceptions of workplace safety climate, psychological job demands, decision latitude, and coworker support, and the relationship of these variables to the injury severity sustained by the workers. METHODS: Injury severity was assessed using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), which evaluates functional limitations. Worker perceptions of workplace variables were determined by two instruments: (a) the Safety Climate Measure for Construction Sites and (b) the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). RESULTS: The overall model explained 23% of the variance in injury severity, with unique contributions provided by union status, the Safety Climate Score, and Psychological Job Demands. A positive significant correlation was found between injury severity and the Safety Climate Scores (r = .183, P = .003), and between the Safety Climate Scores and union status (r = .225, P < .001). DISCUSSION: There were statistically significant differences between union and nonunion workers' responses regarding perceived safety climate on 5 of the 10 safety climate items. Union workers were more likely than nonunion workers to: (a) perceive their supervisors as caring about their safety; (b) be made aware of dangerous work practices; (c) have received safety instructions when hired; (d) have regular job safety meetings; and (e) perceive that taking risks was not a part of their job. However, with regard to the 49-item JCQ, which includes Coworker Support, the responses between union and nonunion workers were very similar, indicating an overall high degree of job satisfaction. However, workers who experienced their workplace as more safe also perceived the level of management (r = -.55, P < .001) and coworker (r = -.31, P < .001) support as being higher. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The findings of this study underscore the critical need for construction managers to alert workers to dangerous work practices and conditions more frequently, and express concern and praise workers for safe work in a manner that is culturally acceptable in this industry. Workplace interventions that decrease the incidence and severity of injuries, but that are flexible enough to meet a variety of potentially competing imperatives, such as production deadlines and client demands, need to be identified.     

The influence of age on the associations between HR practices and both affective commitment and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis

Research on the association between high commitment Human Resource (HR) practices and work-related outcomes at the individual level rarely focuses on age differences. To fill this knowledge gap, a meta-analysis has been conducted to examine how the relationships between the availability of high commitment HR practices, as perceived by employees, and affective commitment and job satisfaction change with age. Drawing on Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) theory and on Regulatory Focus theory, we identify a bundle of maintenance HR practices and a bundle of development HR practices, and hypothesize that the association between maintenance HR practices and work-related attitudes strengthens with age, and that the association between development HR practices and work-related attitudes weakens with age. Our meta-analysis of 83 studies reveals that, in line with social exchange and signaling theories, employees' perceptions of HR practices are positively related to their work-related attitudes, and that calendar age influences this relationship largely as expected. These results are discussed in light of the above mentioned theories. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived organizational support and affective commitment: the mediating role of organization‐based self‐esteem in the context of job insecurity

Research on the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and affective organizational commitment (AC) has primarily adopted a social exchange perspective. In this study we considered complementary socio‐emotional explanations of the POS–AC relationship. We focused on the mediating role of organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) and tested competing models of the POS–OBSE‐AC relationship separately on data from two Korean banks that experienced different levels of downsizing following the 1997 Korean financial crisis. We further extended the analysis by examining the extent to which the relationship between POS and OBSE and AC, respectively, was affected by employees' perceived sense of job insecurity in the two banks. The results showed that OBSE was a significant mediator of the POS–AC relationship in both organizations. POS, however, also retained a strong independent direct effect on commitment. Moreover, as expected, perceived job insecurity tended to attenuate the POS–OBSE relationship, but augmented the direct relationship between perceived organizational support and affective commitment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job demands,job resources,and their relationship with burnout and engagement: a multi‐sample study

This study focuses on burnout and its positive antipode—engagement. A model is tested in which burnout and engagement have different predictors and different possible consequences. Structural equation modeling was used to simultaneously analyze data from four independent occupational samples (total N = 1698). Results confirm the hypothesized model indicating that: (1) burnout and engagement are negatively related, sharing between 10 per cent and 25 per cent of their variances; (2) burnout is mainly predicted by job demands but also by lack of job resources, whereas engagement is exclusively predicted by available job resources; (3) burnout is related to health problems as well as to turnover intention, whereas engagement is related only to the latter; (4) burnout mediates the relationship between job demands and health problems, whereas engagement mediates the relationship between job resources and turnover intention. The fact that burnout and engagement exhibit different patterns of possible causes and consequences implies that different intervention strategies should be used when burnout is to be reduced or engagement is to be enhanced. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Behaving safely under pressure: The effects of job demands,resources, and safety climate on employee physical and psychosocial safety behavior

Introduction: Previous research has shown that employees who experience high job demands are more inclined to show unsafe behaviors in the workplace. In this paper, we examine why some employees behave safely when faced with these demands while others do not. We add to the literature by incorporating both physical and psychosocial safety climate in the job demands and resources (JD-R) model and extending it to include physical and psychosocial variants of safety behavior. Method: Using a sample of 6230 health care employees nested within 52 organizations, we examined the relationship between job demands and (a) resources, (b) safety climate, and (c) safety behavior. We conducted multilevel analyses to test our hypotheses. Results: Job demands (i.e., work pressure), job resources (i.e., job autonomy, supervisor support, and co-worker support) and safety climate (both physical and psychosocial safety climate) are directly associated with, respectively, lower and higher physical and psychosocial safety behavior. We also found some evidence that safety climate buffers the negative impact of job demands (i.e., work–family conflict and job insecurity) on safety behavior and strengthens the positive impact of job resources (i.e., co-worker support) on safety behavior. Conclusions: Regardless of whether the focus is physical or psychological safety, our results show that strengthening the safety climate within an organization can increase employees' safety behavior. Practical implication: An organization's safety climate is an optimal target of intervention to prevent and ameliorate negative physical and psychological health and safety outcomes, especially in times of uncertainty and change.     

Psychological ownership within the job design context: revision of the job characteristics model

In this paper, we offer a theoretical modification to the Hackman and Oldham (1975) Job Characteristics Model by integrating research on the psychological aspects of job design with emerging theory on psychological ownership. We develop the connection between job design and (a) the motives facilitating psychological ownership, (b) the routes through which psychological ownership emerges, and (c) the individual‐level outcomes (e.g., emotional, attitudinal, motivational, and behavioral) that result from an employee's psychological ownership of his or her job. Our work covers several previously ignored positive and negative effects. We conclude by positioning psychological ownership as a plausible substitute for other proposed mediating psychological states in the job design–employee response relationship. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

加深对当前火灾特点的认识搞好火灾防治

1引言 近年来,我国的火灾形势比较严峻,连续发生了多起特大和重大建筑火灾.尽快采取有效措施,改变这种局面,已经成为党和政府高度重视、人民普遍关心的问题.     

Intra‐individual variability in job complexity over time: Examining the effect of job complexity trajectory on employee job strain

Drawing on gestalt characteristics theory, we advance the literature on the effect of job complexity on employee well‐being by considering intra‐individual variability of job complexity over time. Specifically, we examine how the trend, or trajectory, of job complexity over time can explain unique variance of employee job strain. Across two longitudinal data sets, we consistently find that, with the average level of job complexity during a given period held constant, a positive job complexity trajectory (i.e., an increasing trend in complexity) is associated with higher employee job strain. Based on job‐demand‐control theory and the exposure‐reactivity model, we further establish that job autonomy and employee emotional stability jointly moderate the relationship between job complexity trajectory and employee job strain. Specifically, for employees with high emotional stability, job autonomy mitigates the job strain brought by positive job complexity trajectory, whereas for employees with low emotional stability, job autonomy does not help to reduce the adverse effect of the increasing trend. These findings not only contribute to extend the understanding of the job complexity – strain relationship, but also suggest a promising, dynamic avenue to study the effects of work characteristics on employee well‐being as well as other outcomes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the contribution to the alignment during an organizational change: Measurement of job satisfaction with working conditions

Introduction: Modern approaches to Occupational Health and Safety have acknowledged the important contribution that continuous improvements to working conditions can make to the motivation of employees, their subsequent performance, and therefore to the competitiveness of the company. Despite this fact, organizational change initiatives represent a path less traveled by employees. Specialized literature has drawn on the fact that employees’ satisfaction presents both the foundation and catalyst for effective implementation of improvements to working conditions. Method: This paper conceptualizes the alignment of employees through measurement of job satisfaction and uses the Bayesian Network to assess the influence of human factors, particularly the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects. Toward this aim, the Bayesian Network is evaluated through a cross-validation process, and a sensitivity analysis is then conducted for each influential dimension: emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. Results: The results reveal that these three dimensions are interrelated and have a direct influence on job satisfaction and employees’ alignment during the organization change. Further, they suggest that the best strategy for enhanced alignment and smooth conduct of organizational changes is simultaneous enhancement of the three dimensions. Practical applications: This study shows the influence of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions on job satisfaction and employees’ alignment during the organizational change. Furthermore, it elaborates the way to develop efficient and effective strategies for a successful change implementation and sustained alignment.     

Hassles on the job: a study of a job intervention with urban bus drivers

Epidemiological, psychophysiological and survey data all converge on the conclusion that driving a bus in an urban area is extremely stressful, posing serious health risks. We show that reductions in job hassles while operating buses largely account for the salutary effects of a job environment intervention designed to lessen traffic congestion, diminish passenger demands on drivers, and generally ease bus operation. This study also makes methodological contributions to the stress and health literature. Independent observers' assessments of changes in job hassles caused by a field intervention predict, in a longitudinal design, multimethodological markers of stress including blood pressure, heart rate, and a standardized self‐report index of stress. The value of utilizing job re‐design studies to more rigorously investigate stress and health is discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.